Will you tell me about him?
by jdho2
Summary: My contribution to Day 1 Samtember 2015. In this one, Sam meets his platonic soulmates and ultimately decides to become a councilor at the VA
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Guys guys! Apparently there's a thing called "Samtember" starting this year via a Tumblr prompt. And as soon as I heard about that, I knew I had to participate. Who doesn't like Sam? At least some (possibly ALL?) will be Soulmate AUs, and those that are will be cross-posted into Plum Soulmates. ALL will be Crossovers. :) Steph will not always be romantically paired with Sam, but all will be Sam-centric. Oh, and all of them are going to be un-betaed, so if there are issues, let me know, but leave my poor beta alone!

If anyone is reading this because of Samtember, and hasn't read one of my soulmate fics, here's the quick version. When your soulmate is born, their first words to you appear on their skin- almost like a tattoo. Romantic soulmates are in black "ink", while platonic are grey. It is possible to have one, none, or multiple in either category. Sometimes words appear at times other than birth, but those cases are few and far between.

Warning, this one isn't the happiest. Canonical minor-character death.

 **Will you tell me about him? - Steph & Sam (platonic)**

Some people thought that having a soulmate guaranteed you a lot of things. They thought it guaranteed that you would actually meet that person one day. They thought it guaranteed that once you did meet the person, you would have time to spend together. And they thought that it guaranteed a happily ever after.

None of those things were actually true. Sometimes soulmates could both live to be quite old and never meet, or die young and never meet. Some soulmates went through something in their lives before meeting that changed their character so drastically that when they finally did meet, it wasn't a good match. And some people met, took it slow or rushed off to do something else, and never made it back to their mate. Worst to me were the people who took their soulmates for granted, treating them poorly or simply not cherishing them for the gift that they were.

I grew up the son of an Air Force Chaplain who had seen it all, and he had instilled upon me a healthy respect for soulmates and the gift they were. My father taught me to treat them well, and spend as much time as possible with them because you never knew how much of it you would get. And he'd given me a healthy respect for the fact that none of those fairy tale promises were true, while still managing to ingrain a sense of hope in me for my soulmates.

When I met my platonic soulmate, it was at Air Force Basic Military Training. Of course, I'd played into fate's hand on that one because he'd laid it out for me so easily to find him.

"My name is Riley, it may take two years, but by 2012, I'm going to be a pararescueman."

They were words that had terrified Momma, but they did make it damn easy to find Riley. My father had managed to get a buddy to tip him off to which enlistment group I needed to attend in 2008, and I'd made it happen. Then he'd wished me luck.

We made it through the first tour, and it seemed like luck was on our side. But Riley wanted to re-up, and someone needed to watch his ass, so I'd gone along with him. When he showed up for our second tour, he was two hours late. I ragged on him pretty hard about it, until he told me that he'd met his romantic soulmate on the way in. He'd been late because he was making sure he knew multiple ways to get back in touch with her when the tour was over.

That was a qualifying event, and he could use it to delay his tour. Try as I might, I wasn't able to convince him to do so. He'd insisted that there was plenty of time later. This would be his last tour, then he'd find something to do that would allow him to be with Stephanie Plum. I asked him what he was going to see, and he told me he didn't know, but he knew he'd be happy. Stephanie, or Steph, as she preferred to be called was in school getting a business degree, and he expected she'd be able to find work anywhere.

Playfully, he told me I should come with him, at least until I figured out what I wanted to do. Because I hadn't wanted to go on the second tour, it was a likely that I was going to leave anyway. When he told me he thought I'd like her, I'd agreed because I figured anyone who could put up with Riley would be alright in my book.

Of course, then an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky and just like that, time was up for the couple before they'd even really gotten to be together. Because we were platonic soulmates, when Riley went down, the Air Force sent me home. That didn't used to be the policy for platonics, but too many died due to the distraction and it had eventually become a regulation. I quietly went through the exit process, and reluctantly informed the chain of command that I was done. I still had another platonic out there I'd yet to meet, and maybe I'd wind up with a romantic one day. Crazier things had happened, and I wanted to be free to enjoy whatever time we had.

When I walked out of the base, my parents were standing there waiting for me. Talking to my father helped a lot, he always seemed to know what to say. Yet, when I told them where I was going next, I declined his offer to go with me. I did let them drive me back to where I had my truck stored, and ate a meal with them before I left.

By the time I pulled up to her off-campus apartment at Douglass College, I was still exhausted. I took a few minutes to pull myself together in the truck, and as I did so, I noticed the fully uniformed officers walking out of the building. Getting out of the truck, I held a salute as they walked by, seeing nods of understanding and recognition from the men as they passed. I waited until they'd gotten in their vehicle and left before I took a deep breath and walked up to her door.

I knocked on the door, and watched her take in my uniform. She looked a little confused, and opened her mouth, I figured to tell me that they'd already talked to her. But I beat her to the punch.

"Hi, I'm Sam," I said softly.

Her eyes went wide and filled with tears, but she nodded her head and opened the door for me. I walked inside, looking around the small apartment, and when she sat on the couch, I took the armchair across from her.

"Will you tell me about him?" she asked through tears.

My eyes widened because I realized that must have been why Riley was so sure that Steph and I would get along. Her fingers ran along her forearm where my words to her were written boldly in grey writing. That night I told her about Riley, striving to help us both vent our grief, but also to get her to laugh at least a few times.

Even if she hadn't been my platonic soulmate, I would have taken care of her for Riley. And because it was the right thing to do for anyone in her shoes. I stayed with her for a couple weeks, making sure she took care of herself until the shock wore off and the veil of grief started to lift. Then I really started thinking about what would make me happy, and I enrolled in Douglass to get credits so I could become a counselor at the VA.

* * *

 **A/N:** I know, that hit me in the feels SO HARD. I don't even like angst, so I'm not really sure how this one happened… I'll make the rest happy!


	2. Chapter 2

" _So, are you still glad you met Captain America?_ "

I sat in the hospital room looking at my phone then over at the man in question as he continued to lay unconscious from wounds received battling the Winter Soldier on the last Project Insight Helicarrier.

Before I met him, I'd just been Sam who worked at the VA, helping people with PTSD. Now, I wasn't too sure what I was. At least from what I could tell in my reading so far, I'd met Steve so late in the game and just in passing that SHIELD hadn't investigated me. It meant that the information databases Black Widow had dumped on the Internet for everyone to see hadn't contained any information on me or linked me to my platonic soulmate, Steph, who was the one teasing me over text message at that moment.

" _Yes._ " I finally settled on texting back, keeping it simple for now. Weird shit tended to happen with Steph, and I didn't know who might end up getting a hold of her phone and reading the messages. Best not to include too much detail.

" _Are you okay?_ " She responded almost immediately even though her original text had been hours ago, and it was now the middle of the night.

" _Yep. So is my buddy,_ " I told her. Then on further reflection, I added, " _might need a place to crash for a few days that isn't associated with either of us._ "

There was an extremely long pause. Enough so that I started to think she's fallen asleep because I knew there was no way she'd turn me away. " _You're welcome anytime_ ," she told me.

Steve woke up that day, but it was another couple of days before he was well enough to check out of the hospital and meet up with Natasha and Fury in the cemetery. Once they left and I made it clear to Steve that I was sticking with him in his quest to find Bucky, we stood there unsure of ourselves.

Natasha had supplied us with a clean car registered under an alias she had quickly pulled together for me. We walked over to it, but didn't immediately get in.

"We need somewhere to lay low for a few days while we go through this intel and do some research," I finally said.

Steve nodded before adding, "somewhere safe that people aren't going to look for us."

I knew he was worried about both HYDRA and summons before congress for hearings, and I had a solution for both. Gesturing for Steve to get in the car, I did the same.

After we'd been driving for half an hour, he finally said, "if we're driving to your parents', that's probably not obscure enough."

"I ever tell you about my platonic soulmates?" I asked.

"You have more than one?" He asked sounding confused. "You told me about Riley, and I assumed he was your only platonic."

With that opening, I told him the story of Steph and how I'd met her. Then I went on to tell him about going to Douglass, having to watch her marry a loser then get out of the situation, and her most recent adventures as a bounty hunter.

I knew that when her family told those stories, they considered her to be a disappointment, but I was proud of her. It must have shown through because Steve's response was, "She sounds like a hell of a dame to be able to take care of herself like that."

"She is," I easily agreed. "But please don't call her or any other woman that."

A couple more minutes passed quietly before Steve said, "is that where we're going? To stay with Steph?"

I nodded and said, "her apartment is a bit of a dump, and we'll have to sleep on the ground and the couch, but it should be off the radar. After Riley, I've kept my platonic match with Steph off the radar. I didn't know why, but my gut told me it was better, maybe even safer for her that way. I always assumed that was Riley looking out for her."

"I've slept behind enemy lines in Nazi territory, so I'm sure I can handle the floor in an apartment in Trenton."

Steve said nothing when I made a stop for a lock pick set outside of Trenton. Then we continued the rest of the way into town, stopping to pick up an abundance of groceries since Steph's cupboards were always bare when I arrived. Last, we stopped at Pino's and I picked up a meatball sub each for Steph and I… And four for Steve.

Reaching her apartment building, Steve pulled his ballcap even lower and filled his arms with groceries for the first trip up. I grabbed the subs and guided him to the correct apartment. When I knocked and didn't get a response, I made quick work of the locks.

"You can't just…"

Steve trailed off in surprised frustration, and I told him, "believe me, she's used to it."

Steve set everything down and gave me a look of disappointment that went straight to my soul as he said, "I thought you were taking care of her and keeping her safe."

Shrugging I said, "I tried to convince her to move and to let me help, but she won't. Nor will she touch the death benefits money from Riley, so more just gets fed into the bank by the Air Force each month and sits there. She has friends here in the security business, and they help keep an eye out for her, though she won't let them upgrade the security system on here."

"Why won't she take the money?" Steve asked.

"Says it's blood money. I think it's more than that though. She was so depressed for so long after Riley died that I think she just can't stand the reminder of him. At least that meant it was in an account completely separate from her husband and he couldn't get his hands on it in the divorce."

Steve looked lost in the grief of his own past, so I went about storing groceries and then took the stairs down to the car to gather our equipment and clothes bags.

When I got back upstairs, Steph was standing in the doorway with a duffle of her own slung over her shoulder. She must have come up via the elevator while I was on the stairs, and I missed her. As I approached her, I thought she was probably star struck even though she knew I was coming and had to have figured out that I'd likely being Steve with me.

Instead, I realized that she was silently crying and I looked past her to see a clearly bewildered Steve staring at her wide-eyed. Gently, I clapped a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. When she turned and looked at me, she went from silent tears to full-on sobbing and buried herself in my chest.

Steve rushed forward to grab the bags that I dropped so I could usher her forward and pull the door shut behind us.

"I heard that you're bad with the ladies, Steve," I half-teased to try to ease the tension in the room. "But what did you say?"

"I just introduced myself and let her know that you'd told me all about her and I was sorry for her loss."

Bringing up Riley hadn't caused this kind of reaction from Steph in years, so I didn't know what had caused it.

"Can you go grab the tissue box from her bathroom and maybe a glass of water?" I asked Steve, who looked relieved to have something to do.

Murmuring to Steph, I rubbed her back soothingly. While I did, I noticed something new as her shirt rode up in the back. I carefully pushed her away and turned her then lifted up the back of her shirt even as I heard footsteps approach us once more.

Steve said something to Steph, but she didn't respond, and I just stared dumbfounded as I traced over a new set of words in black on Steph's skin.

"Hi, I'm Steve, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sam has told me wonderful things about you, and I'm sorry about Riley."

It was as though my touch brought her back to reality enough for Steph to finally speak. As I stood straight once more, I had the perfect view of Steve's face as Steph croaked out in a half-sob, "please _don't die_. I can't take that again."

Steve's eyes went wide, and then he went pale. I just looked between the two, head on a constant swivel as I tried to decide who to watch.

Finally I exclaimed, "Steve, you said Peggy was your soulmate but her words had faded when you woke up after the ice, and you didn't have new words. And Steph, you definitely didn't have any more words!"

Steve gave me a look of betrayal, and I threw my hands up saying, "for fuck's sake! I didn't sleep with her! Platonic, remember? Everyone knows it's an awful idea to try to make a platonic bond romantic! But I have seen her in a bikini, and she didn't have words on her back in your writing!"

Steve's eyes turned back to Steph and darkened a little at the mention of his words on her skin, and I shuddered to myself.

Steph finally managed to find the ability to speak again, and she said, "they showed up the day we texted, Sam."

So, that would be the day that Steve woke up, and the day I'd decided I was going to stick with him on his hunt for Bucky. It was also the day that the doctors stopped having to give Steve full body exams, so I had to give fate credit for keeping Steph safe. If Steve's had shown up before then, she would have been in the file dump or at the very least a ton of medical staff would have seen the words.

Steve said, "mine showed up right when I woke up. The pain from them was I think what my finally brought me back into consciousness."

"That's the same day," I said lamely, feeling the need to clarify for them.

At the same time, they both looked at me and said, "I was going to tell you, Sam…"

When they trailed off awkwardly I waved it off, saying, "you needed time to get used to the idea. I get it."


End file.
